Six Girls and One Boy

GIG HARBOR
Holland, Ruby and McKay

Ashley & Camille with Tacoma Narrows Bridge in background

Joyce & Ashley with Gig Harbor in the background

Happy Holland after eating ice cream in GH

McKay & Ruby on playground equipment in GH

Ruby & Ashley

Camille & Russ's house in Gig Harbor

Holland opening up her early b'day present at

Rainforest Cafe birthday dinner

Holland's volcano cake with sparkler

Rainforest Cafe after birthday celebration

PORT TOWNSEND, WA

Historic Victorian Seaport and Gateway to the Olympic Peninsula.
Nifty 50's ice cream parlor in Port Townsend

Ruby at ice cream parlor

Ruby and Ashley

Port Townsend had several restored

Victorian mansions

THE STAKER'S HOME IN GIG HARBOR

Grandpa Doug put together Holland's swing

below their deck

A little bit of Camille's decorating in front room

Look at their green setting outside the front window

Dining room

Holland's bedroom

More of Holland's bedroom

THE HYDE'S HOME IN BREMERTON, WA

McKay playing school on his antique child's desk, just

like Doug and I used to sit on at school many years ago

Oops, more of Camille's decorating in her sewing room

VICTORIA, BRITISH COLUMBIA

Joyce & Doug on ferry to Victoria

Holland & Grandpa Doug on ferry

Adam & Ashley on ferry

McKay on ferry

Ashley coming of the ferry with Victoria Harbor

(and Empress Hotel) in background

Doug and Russ getting off ferry

Camille & Ashley

Joyce with motel on the harbor that we spent the night in,

which was almost across the street from the ferry terminal

McKay and Adam with ferry in background

Ashley with harbor and Parliament Bldg in background

Ashley on our walking tour of Victoria

Beautiful hanging pots on all street lamps

Ruby & Aunt Camille

Ruby couldn't resist the flowers

Horse-drawn carriage passing Parliament Building

BUTCHART GARDENS

The Butchart Gardens is one of the world's premier floral

show gardens. Jennie Butchart began to shape this magnificent

landscape in 1904. She established, in the style of the grand

estates of the period, several distinct gardens to evoke a range

of aesthetic experiences. An abandoned limestone quarry

was transformed into the dramatic Sunken Garden

The gardens were amazing

Look at how big the blossoms were!

More beautiful blossoms

Doug in one of the gardens

This picture doesn't do justice to the sunken garden,

which was taken at dusk.

The Stakers with the sunken garden in the background

Sunken Garden

Waterfall at end of Sunken Garden

Beautiful umbrellas in gift shop at Butchart

BACK TO VICTORIA

Parliament Building all lit up at night

The Staker's outside the Empress Hotel, which captures the

grandeur and elegance of a bygone Victorian era--celebrating

its 100th birthday

The Hyde Family

Aunt Camille helping Ruby take a few steps

Empress Conference Center totem pole

While we were there, Victoria was having a classic

boat festival in the inner harbor

One of the smaller classic boats

Interior of one of the boats

Classic boats with Empress in background

Copper live statue thanking Holland for her money

SEATTLE, WA

The day after we returned from Victoria, we took

another ferry to Seattle from Bremerton. This time

we drove our car onto this ferry.

Adam with the one of the buildings of the Puget Sound

Naval Shipyard in the background, where he works as a

nuclear engineer.

Adam, Ruby & Doug on ferry to Seattle

View of Seattle coming in on ferry from Bremerton

PACIFIC SCIENCE CENTER, SEATTLE

Located under the Seattle World's Fair arches, its exhibits

are aimed primarily at children, but the Pacific Science

Center is fun for all ages.

McKay & Ashley making Lego cars to race

Doug preparing his race car, too

McKay and Ashley having fun racing cars

Water guns in the middle of the center

Hitting the targets

Ruby in the play area

The kids could have stayed here all day!

Making bubbles

Doug, the little kid, sitting on giant chairs around

a giant table

Holland & Camille on brass insect outside tropical

butterfly arboritum

Space Needle just within walking distance of

Pacific Science Center

McKay smelling one of the tropical flowers inside

the butterfly arboritum

Several owl butterflies on fruit plate

Ashley with praying mantis statue in background

Dinosaur building

Russ & Camille

Cousin buddies

SPACE NEEDLE

On top of Space Needle

View of the City of Seattle

Eating lunch on top of the revolving Space Needle restaurant

It was a delicious lunch

Camille & her dad

McKay had pasta-shaped space needles

Holland ate salmon

This picture shows you all of the Pacific Space Center buildings

View of Space Needle looking up

The IMAX movie we saw at the PSC--"The Biggest

Dam Move You Ever Saw," since the movie was about

a beaver dam.

PIKE STREET MARKET

This public farmers market has been a hub of waterfront

activity since the early days of Seattle on August 17, 1907.

At least 40,000 people attend the market on summer

Saturdays.

This row of flower bouquets goes forever. We could

have bought one of these bunches for $3.00.

One of many fresh vegetable vendors

Notice beautiful flowers above walkway

This is the restaurant/bar Tom Hanks talked with Rob

Reiner in Sleepless in Seattle.

Interior of restaurant, which was closed.

More of Pike's Street Market

The group outside the famous sign

Fruit vendor

TACOMA NARROWS BRIDGES

Pair of mile-long suspension bridge across Tacoma

Narrows, which is really close to the Staker's home.

Camille & I walked across this bridge

one morning.

Grandma Joyce with three sweet grandchildren that

live too far away, but we surely have fun visiting!

Holland and Figaro, her cat

Holland with her Tom Thumb typewriter--she loves

to type while her dad writes his novel.